Southwest CEO Apologizes After 5 Days Of Cancellation Choas

Southwest Airlines Experiences Major Flight Cancellations Across U.S.

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Southwest CEO Gary Kelly publicly apologized on Tuesday, October 12, as the airline continued to cancel flights for the fifth day in a row.

“I want to apologize to all of our customers. This is not what we want, but unfortunately it just takes a couple of days to get things back on track," Kelly said on Good Morning America.

On Tuesday, the Dallas-based airline canceled 90 of its nearly 3,300 daily flights. That is down significantly because over the weekend Southwest canceled nearly 30% of all of its flights, which left thousands of people stranded and scrambling to find travel alternatives.

Traveler Russ Melchert rented a U-Haul and drove for 9 hours from Dallas to Kansas City after his Southwest flight was canceled on Sunday, CNN reported.

Some travelers opted to take other carriers. Vanessa Wheeler booked a Delta flight from San Jose, California, to Las Vegas after Southwest canceled her trip six times over three days, the Associated Press reported.

Southwest blamed multiple factors for the cancellations, including air traffic control problems, bad weather, and a staffing shortage.

The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association rejected claims that pilots protesting the airline's vaccine mandate led to the mass cancellations. It blamed Southwest "management’s poor planning" instead, Fox Business reported.


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